Mining is a critically important economic activity in the United States. But despite its importance, the legal framework within which mining occurs is unfamiliar to most environmental lawyers, citizens, and policymakers. In large part, this is because regulation of hard rock mining is driven by state--rather than federal--laws. Hard Rock Mining: State Approaches to Environmental Protection examines environmental regulation of hard rock (metallic and industrial mineral) mining in seven, key western states. This "case-study" approach provides the reader with a clear picture of the state of the art in environmental regulation of mining.